Your Mortgage

Migrants placing locals out of property market

Your Mortgage — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:25:00 GMT

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This article has been republished courtesy of Your Mortgage, the leading independent mortgage magazine, providing news and information to help you compare home loans from top Australian lenders accurately and easily.

Australian families are being priced out of the property market by record numbers of highly paid skilled workers arriving from overseas, according to news.com.au.

Research by The Sunday Telegraph has revealed for the first time how skilled immigrants - predominantly from Britain, India and China - are forcing house prices to some of the highest levels in the world when compared with average incomes.

Almost 115,000 permanent skilled visas were issued last year, compared with just over 40,000 in 1998-99 - an increase of 187%. .

During the same period, the median house price rose 168% - from $156,600 to $420,600.

Although the number of migrants is relatively low compared with total property transactions - which have averaged 500,000 a year over the past 10 years - experts say property-price inflation is driven not by what the average buyer can afford to pay, but by the highest bidder.

And because skilled migrants command above-average salaries, they pay above-average prices.

As a result, a relatively small number of highly paid buyers can have a disproportionate effect on house prices.

"There's no question the number of skilled migrants is a key factor in driving up prices," John Edwards, of property monitor Residex, said.

"You need only two highly paid buyers at an auction to take the price of a property well above what any other party could afford to pay."

Rents set to skyrocket

Your Mortgage — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:48:00 GMT

According to Broker news, Rents are set to skyrocket in 2010

High demand and low apartment vacancy is expected to push rental rates up sharply for the next two years.

BIS Shrapnel's Residential Property Prospect, 2009-2012, forecasts an annual rate rise of 5% in the country's major cities.

The report indicates the worst city will be Sydney, which will have a vacancy rate of under 1% next year and rents will rise by 7%.

Investor demand and the increased number of renters becoming home owners is expected to drive up house prices.

Rents are set to skyrocket in 2010, originally published at Your Mortgage, has been republished with permission.

Property prices continue to climb

Your Mortgage — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:46:00 GMT

Recent rate rises have yet to make a dent in Australia's property prices which climbed an average of 10% so far this year.

Melbourne outperformed its counterparts with average gains of almost 15%.

But house prices in Sydney climbed a solid 1% in October alone.

Australia has witnessed two consecutive interest rate rises pulling rates up to 3.5% and the country is bracing for a three-peat as it waits to hear the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to be released this afternoon.

Property prices continue to climb is copyright Your Mortgage and has been republished with permission.

YIP TV: What's ahead for the mortgage and property markets in 2010?

Your Mortgage — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:43:00 GMT

Watch Loan Market Group's executive chairman, Sam White on YIP TV http://www.yipmag.com.au/videos/ as he discusses his predictions for the state of the mortgage and property markets in 2010 and his views on the latest rate hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

White said the RBA are using these smaller rate rises as a preventative measure to avoid having to make larger increases later on. However, he said there is no doubt that the most recent rises will have an immediate effect on consumer confidence and spending.

"The latest rise will add $50 more to the average mortgage repayments per month," he says. "When you put this $50 on top of the $100 extra a month that mortgage holders are now paying as a consequence of the previous two rate rise, going into Christmas many Australians are going to have to tighten their belts just that much more to accommodate yet another interest rate rise."

Click here to view the video, courtesy of Loan Market Group.

ALSO on YIP TV:
• September and October 09 property market updates
• The 360 degree approach to buying an investing in property (Steps 1, 2 and 3)

10% deposits now mortgage norm

Your Mortgage — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:41:00 GMT

Customers can expect to pay a miniumm 10% deposit on mortgages as both banks and independent lenders tighten lending restrictions in the wake of the global financial crisis, according to mortgage specialists Rams.

It is a major departure for lending institutions which were offering 100% mortgages less than two years ago.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Rams' chief executive Melos Sulicich said that borrowers are also now required to take out mortgage insurance on loans of less than 20%.

"People are being cautious about how much they are borrowing," added Sulcich. "LVRs of 100% were very common, but now that's around 90%. Lenders have tightened their criteria, but what's interesting is that doesn't appear to have dampened or reduced the demand."

10% deposits now mortgage norm, originally published at Your Mortgage, has been republished here with permission.